


Why Must You Be Such An Angry Young Man?

by aislingdoheanta



Series: Blue Collar Man [1]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Non-Hunter, Gen, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-22
Updated: 2013-03-22
Packaged: 2017-12-06 01:51:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/730251
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aislingdoheanta/pseuds/aislingdoheanta
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dean and Castiel meet for the first time. Sparks do not immediately fly. </p><p>Alluded to first meeting in 'A Wonderful Life'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Why Must You Be Such An Angry Young Man?

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first meeting between Dean and Castiel, as is mentioned in A Wonderful Life. 
> 
> The name for Dean's auto shop was just a filler until I found something else, but then I couldn't part with it. So it stuck.
> 
> The title is taken from the STYX song, "Fooling Yourself." The full quote that I had in mind for this story was "Why must you be such an angry young man when your future looks quite bright to me?" I just really liked this song for Dean in general, and as he's not the nicest in this one, it also fits here.

Castiel was just on his way out of Gabriel's cafe, when Sam called out to him. He stopped outside and turned to him, raising his brows in question. 

“Listen, I have a huge favor to ask of you,” Sam said. 

Castiel tilted his head. “What is it?”

“Can you go to my brother's shop and balance his books for me?” Sam even used his puppy eyes, which would be annoying if it didn't work. 

Castiel shrugged. “I suppose. Why do you need me to fill in?”

Sam blushed a bit and looked down. “It's Gabe's day off and we have plans.”

Castiel rubbed the back of his neck. “Oh...Okay.” He cleared his throat. “What exactly am I supposed to do?”

Sam smiled. “You know **_LedZep Auto,_** right?” At Castiel's nod, he continued. “Okay, just go there and get the past weeks worth of stuff in order. Balancing the books, mostly. I can file everything away when I go in next week.” 

“Do you have a specific system?” 

Sam laughed. “Sort of? I mean, I know the ways I do things and, for the most part, Dean follows suit.”

Castiel sighed. “Are you sure he won't object to my being there?” 

“Of course not!” Sam said before suddenly looking less sure. “Just tell him to call me if he has any questions.”

“Fine.”

“Thanks, Castiel! I owe you one!” Sam squeezed his shoulder, smiled, and rushed back inside. 

Castiel just shook his head and continued walking to the head office in the city.

***[]***

The next morning, Castiel found himself parking outside **_LedZep Auto,_** surprised by how much it had grown since he last came here—it had been a few years ago for a change of tires. Castiel doesn't remember much about it, but since there's nothing negative in his memory, he's sure that it was fine. 

He grabbed his shoulder bag and walked into the shop, going directly toward the counter trying to remember if he knew what Dean looked like. He hadn't ever actually met the man, though now he found that strange, considering how close Sam and Gabe seemed to be with Sam's brother. Although, considering Castiel traveled more often than not, it wasn't that surprising that their paths never crossed. 

“Can I help you?” A man behind the counter asked him, looking up from a clipboard. 

“Oh. Um, yes. I am looking for Dean?” Castiel felt his face blushing and rubbed at the back of his neck. 

The man laughed, though not unkindly. “Dean's not here right now, but I can help you. Name's Rufus.” 

Oh, Rufus. It's nice to meet you. I'm Castiel Novak,” Castiel added awkwardly. Castiel looked at him, taking him in. He was tall, dark skinned, with really dark eyes, though they looked warm and kind. He also had a strange tooth earring hanging from his ear. Unless it was a feather. 

“You okay?” Castiel jumped at the sound of Rufus' voice, forgetting that he had unintentionally been staring at him. 

“Yes, my apologies, I just was...thinking.” Castiel coughed and looked down before quickly changing the subject. “Um, Sam asked me to come in and look over the books.” 

Rufus smiled and somehow Castiel found himself completely at ease. “Why didn't you say so! Come on back, I'll take you to the back office.” He opened the partition in the counter and led Castiel to a back staircase. 

They walked up in silence, though Rufus was humming something under his breath. He opened a door that housed a small office. It had a large desk, a smaller desk, a few filing cabinets, and bookshelves. It even had a small fridge and small sofa that looked like it had seen better days. There were band posters and beer posters that hung up on all the walls. 

“Alright. Sam tends to have everything in his own order on this desk,” Rufus said as he pointed to the smaller desk on the side. “Now, I don't know anything about it, so don't call for me if you need help. Dean's just out on a tow job and should be back in a bit. He should be able to help you if you need it.” 

“Okay. Thank you, Rufus,” Castiel said. 

“No problem. Enjoy,” Rufus told him, winking at him and walking back down the stairs. 

Castiel took a deep breath and sat down at the desk Rufus pointed at. He felt strange digging around in this office that wasn't his, but he had to look through it to find out where Sam put everything. He found the books he was meant to balance in the second drawer on the right, with the receipts and other checks in an envelope on top of them. He was surprised, but pleased at the organization. 

He opened the book, which was basically a glorified checkbook, and started thumbing through it. He wanted to be able to understand Sam's system, which appeared to be color-coded, so he wouldn't mess it up or create more problems for Sam. 

Castiel laughed when he got to the last filled out page because there were a few post-it notes. The first one was from Sam and said, _“You are making enough profit to hire another set of hands or even an official tow-truck guy. You don't need to do everything yourself.”_

Dean's note was what made him laugh. _“If I stop showing my pretty face around here, my customers might stop coming around.”_

Castiel smiled fondly at their relationship and briefly wondered what Sam's response would have been if he had been here. Maybe something about how Dean's full of it.

Castiel sighed and got to work, sorting through all the receipts and putting them all in order. He was so wrapped up in balancing the books and finding where things were supposed to be filed, that he lost track of the time. Until a voice startled him back into the world. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” The man was angry, that much was evident from his tone. Castiel looked up and saw that his stance was simultaneously blocking the exit as well as getting ready to charge if the situation called for it. 

Castiel stood up quickly, hitting his knee on the desk in the process. “O-Oh, I'm Castiel. Novak. I-I...was asked to come here and do the books for Dean,” he said quickly, trying to focus on the man in front of him, but unable to. 

“By who?” the man asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

“S-Sam. Sam Winchester.” Castiel rubbed at the back of his neck. “He said something came up and he--”

“Asked you to fill in for him?” he finished. The man held up a hand to stop Castiel's imminent response and pulled out his phone. “Sammy?!” He turned his back on Castiel and had a quiet, but tense conversation. 

Castiel turned back to the one window, trying not to overhear because he doesn't want to cause even more trouble. 

The man, who Castiel was going to assume was Dean, hung up the and stared at Castiel and Castiel felt himself wilting under that intense gaze. “You're Dean?” he asked after a few seconds of tense, awkward silence. 

“Yes,” Dean said, rubbing a hand on his face. 

Castiel had thought Dean was joking with Sam when he said that his looks kept people coming, but, in Castiel's opinion, nothing could have been more true. Or, if Dean thought it was a joke, he obviously didn't see himself clearly. He was probably the most beautiful man Castiel had ever seen, with a strong jaw, lined with slight stubble. His lips were currently pressed in a firm line, but there were laugh lings surrounding his mouth and at the corners of his eyes, which were green and his anger just made them stand out that much more. 

Dean cleared his throat. "So you're story sticks.”

“Good. I--”

“Do you always just wander into people's offices without asking or waiting for the owner of said office?” Dean asked 

Castiel shook his head, stumbling over his words because this was not how it was supposed to go. “No! That man—Rufus—showed me up here.”

Dean took a deep breath, but continued staring and made Castiel uneasy. “Finish up and don't mess up the system.” Then he turned and stormed out. 

Castiel flinched when he heard Dean shouting for Rufus as he descended down the stairs. 

Castiel sat down and took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. He never did particularly well during direct confrontation. He also had never met someone so intense before and he finally understood why Gabriel had used Dean as a threat when they had first met. He imagined Dean was terrifying when truly upset. 

Castiel's phone went off and he reached for it idly, just wanting to finish up as quickly. 

**Sam: Sorry! My brother can be intense. He's just really protective of his family and business.**

Castiel sighed and typed up his response. **It's okay.**

**Sam: Coffee's on the house for the next week.**

Castiel laughed as he set his phone down, but Sam's messages made him feel a little better. 

He finished quickly because he had been almost done before Dean showed up—and he was not thinking about what it would have been like had he not have read over _everything_ and just got to work and how if he had done all of that, he probably wouldn't have run into Dean. He put everything back and stood up, stretching his back. 

He went through the office, triple checking that everything was back in its proper place, turned off, and organized. He gathered his coat, shrugging into to, and grabbed his bag before heading back downstairs. He wasn't sure if he wanted to run into Dean again. 

He was saved an awkward goodbye when he didn't see Dean behind the counter, but Rufus was there. Castiel rubbed the back of his neck and said, “Tell Dean I'm sorry for the trouble.” 

Rufus laughed as he led Castiel out of the shop. “Don't worry about Dean. His bark is worse than his bite.” 

“His bark certainly had bite to it,” Castiel mumbled, but Rufus overheard it and laughed, patting him on the back. 

“Hopefully we'll see you around!” He called as Castiel went through the door. Castiel just waved a hand back at him, but didn't turn back around. He wasn't sure that he would be welcomed back, even if he had wanted to come back. 

However, later that night, fate had other plans. In the form of Sam Winchester. 

**Sam: I know it wasn't great today, but could you go in tomorrow for a couple hours? Dean apparently forgot to give you some receipts today.**

Castiel sighed. **I don't know, Sam. He didn't seem very happy to have someone that wasn't you there.**

**Sam: He was just surprised. I should have given him more warning. Please, Castiel? It'd be a really big help to me?**

Castiel rubbed at his neck. He wanted to help out Sam, after all he was one of the only friends Castiel had and he didn't want to let him down. But he wasn't sure if he could handle going back again. 

**Sam: Coffee for two weeks. Including specialty drinks.**

**Sam: And bakery items.**

Castiel laughed and made his decision. **Alright. I'll go.**

**Sam: Thank you! Head in around 11 tomorrow morning. It should only take about an hour or so. Maybe head into the cafe for a free lunch after.**

Castiel just shook his head and set his phone down. Tomorrow would be interesting. If he lived through it.

**Author's Note:**

> I know that Dean is a little angrier than normal, but Dean is very protective of his stuff: his family, his baby--which is still the Impala, obvioulsy, and his shop, which he started and built up on his own. Spoiler alert, he does apologize to Castiel and explains things a little more the next time they see each other, cause he does realize that he really wasn't that nice. 
> 
> I hope you're enjoying this verse! I have a general idea of what I want to write and how things get from one point to the other. But if there's anything specific you want to see, just let me know!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
